Minister of Health and Environment, Dr. Marcus Bethel, announced on Thursday that the “full documentation” covering the Environmental Impact Assessment for the AES Corp project, as well as the Environment Management Plan and all other supporting documents, are being made available for review by all interested parties at the offices of the BEST Commission.
The documents can be viewed over a four week period beginning Oct. 27-Nov. 21.
AES Corp wants to build a gas pipeline between Ocean Cay, Bimini and Dania Beach, Florida. It proposes to construct a terminal to receive Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) via ocean tankers, store the liquid gas, re-convert it to natural gas and send it to The United States via pipeline. The $600 million project has undergone extensive review and analysis in both The Bahamas and the United States, and ICF Consulting of Washington D.C. provided technical assistance.
The EIA documents of AES Corp will be available for viewing by appointment at the BEST Commission, Nassau Court, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday to Friday. Appointments to review the documents can be made by any members of the public by calling the BEST Commission. The review will be supervised and no recording equipment will be allowed into the room and the documents cannot be removed from the room.
Dr. Bethel said that his Ministry was looking for input from all segments of society having an interest in the project. He emphasised however, that Cabinet has not yet made any decision about any of the proposals submitted and would not do so until the public had an opportunity to give its input.
“We expect that sometime towards the end of November, the comments and questions that have been submitted will have been addressed and Cabinet would be apprised of those concerns before it makes any decision on the way forward.”
According to the Environment Minister, the four-week public review period will be followed by town meetings, the first scheduled for Nov. 24 in the capital and Nov. 26 in Bimini. Following all town meetings, the BEST Commission will submit its final report to Cabinet incorporating all concerns from the public and other interested parties.
Donald Cooper, Senior Technical Expert of the BEST Commission, said there were no areas that were left “uncovered” while conducting the EIA review and all individual components of the project had been examined.
“We examined how those components interact, how they would reside in a country such as the United States and Canada and how this would be translated in The Bahamas. Also how we would exercise the necessary control regimes in The Bahamas and how it would impact the surrounding communities, how it would fit into our fragile marine environment and touristic values,” he said.
“Every single aspect, including litigation and methodologies used in order to construct the project, run it and at the end of the day decommission the plant was examined, so the entire gamut was reviewed applying these standards that one would normally apply for a facility in the Florida area,” he said.
The EIA of AES Corp was reviewed by four technical professionals from the BEST Commission, six additional local experts hired by the BEST Commission and some 15-20 experts from ICF Consulting.
Meanwhile, the BEST Commission is now reviewing the EIA of El Paso Corp. The company envisions constructing a similar pipeline on Grand Bahama from a re-pressurization facility near South Riding Point on Grand Bahama, to Martin County in South Florida οΎ— about 40 miles in Bahamian waters and 20 miles on Grand Bahama itself.
Tractebel is the third company expected to submit an EIA to the BEST Commission. It wants to build a 100 mile pipeline from Freeport Harbour on Grand Bahama to Port Everglades, also about 50 miles in Bahamian waters. The Tractebel project will use an existing deepwater port.
By Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
